The Real Deal Miami

Lauderdale developer plans Vero Beach brewery

Michael Rechter would build a craft beer brewery using the bones of an old power plant

February 28, 2016 01:15PM

Michael Rechter

Fort Lauderdale-based developer Michael Rechter is advancing a plan to acquire an old diesel power plant in downtown Vero Beach and redevelop it as a brewery.

A city-appointed evaluation committee ranked Rechter’s proposed brewery project first among three bids submitted in January.

The old diesel plant on State Road 60, owned by the City of Vero Beach, would become a craft beer brewery called the American Icon Brewery, under Rechter’s development proposal. He is CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based Integra Real Estate Company.

“First and foremost we want to make sure that everything we do is in keeping the 1999 historic designation of the building,” Rechter told the Stuart News. “We want to keep and celebrate the huge diesel engine inside as a piece of historic industrial art which fits perfectly with what American Icon Brewery is – a celebration of all things iconic in America.”

The Vero Beach City Commission will consider Rechter’s proposed brewery development at a meeting on Tuesday.

“If the council goes with the committee recommendation, we anticipate a due diligence period of about 60 days, and a short closing period beyond that,” Vero Beach City Manager Jim O’Conner told the Stuart News. [Stuart News] — Mike Seemuth